Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-29
HYPNOTIC PHENOMENA.
Marvellous Demonstrations by Eminent
French ScieHtists-Persens and
Objects Made Invisible at VIII.
sterious Effects Produced by the Use
of Magnets - Wise 1en
Mystified,
Boston Herald,


One OF the most notable features of th
scientific tendencies Of the present day
the extraordinary interest taken in the il
vestigation Of those peculiar physical au
psychical conditions now known colleC
lively under the name Of hypnotisn
varying from IethaTgy, catalePsy, etc, {
somnambulism. Until quite recent
these Investigations have been frowne
upon and taboed in scientific circles, an
the fact that any man of scientific inclins
lions was known to feel an interest i
matters associated with "mesmerism" 0
"animal magnetism was sufficient t
make him an object of suspicion and in
lure his good standing among MS fellow
scientists. The result OF these so-calleC
Investigations instituted by the French
academy, pronounciDg in effect the whoi,
subject O humbug and deIusion, has laiI
like an interdiCt upon further re
searches, and the whole matter was Ief
over, for the most part, TO cbarlalans, OF
10 persons hardly capable of forming
sound Judgment or proceeding according
to the accurate methods demanded by
modern science. Science, however, in
The rem arkabIe progress made of late,
g advanced SO far upon certain lines
1t it has been hardly possible TO pro-
I'D further in those directions without
ering upon the forbidden fed. There
re, the old signbCards against trespass-
have been taken down. For
"mesmerism," that verbal scareCrow, has
been substituted "hyDnotism," which
word has had 3 wonderfully Iegitimizmg
effect; while "Rnimal magnetism that
once fouted idea, has been proven to be
an existing fact by methods as accurate
as those adopted by Fdradsy or
Edison to verify their observations.
EFFORTS OF SCIENTISTS.
Many of the most eminent scientists of
Europe are. now devoting themselves
assidu0usiy to these researches. Period
Gals making g specially OF the subject are
now published in France, Germany and
England. 4 catalogue of the recent
literature of hypnotism and related phe-
nomena, compiled by Max Dessoir, was
printed in the number of the German
magazine called the Sphinx, for February
Of this year, and this catalogue occupied
nine pages. The list is limited TO those
words written on the lines laid under the
methods OF the modern school, all books
being excluded whose authors hold to
"mesmeric" theories, or who are even
professional magnetiZeTs. The catalogue
is, therefore, as strictly scientific as pos
sible and, being classified with German
thoTOUghness under the different branches
of the subject, such as "hystero- hypnot- |
ism, - Suggestion, "fascinati0n," etc , |
II Will prove q valuable assistance 10 the |
udent
In this country the interest of SCENT
IS has not yet been aroused to an eX-
mt comparable to that Of European in !
2stigators. Old preiudices have not |
Irely lost their potency. One of the |
most eminent professors Of a leading |
university is said to have been subjected |
10 TidiCule from his colleagues because of |
marked interest shown in the subject, |
and Boston physician of high standing !
within few months confided to the |
writer that he had made use of hypnotic |
methods, with gratifying success, in the |
case OF a patient where ordinary rene |
dies had proved unsvailing, but he did |
not venture to make the result public, |
since his fellow doctors might be inclined ,
to condemn his action as irregular"
a work embracing the whole subject
has lately appeared in Paris, and, as II is
TO form volume of the valuable Inter
national Scientific series, published in
can hardly fail TO diffuse q correct popu-
lar understanding of the results thus far
The book is called ''Le Mag
netism Animal" animal Magnetism,
and its authors are Messrs. Alfred Binet
and Charles FeTe of the medical staff of
the Ssltpetrier Hospital for Nervous Dis
orders In Paris. 1t gives a history of the
patient researches conducted at that in
by the medical staff under the
celebrated Professor Charcote during the
past nine years. These experiments have
been prosecuted according to the most
exact scientific methods and with the
most extreme caution. The endeavor
has been to obtain, first of all, the
most elementary psychic phenomenon
and to test every step in the
By separate experiments
specially devised to prove the good faith
of the subject and the reality of his hal
Inclination, to eliminate the possibility of
suggestion, to establish re-
lations with similar phenomena Of disease
or health in the domain of physiology,
and to note the notifications which can
be brought about by altering the condi-
lions OF the experiments. The authors
possess. the great scientific virtue of
never dOgmatiZing. In the entire book
not single law is laid down, not5 3
single hypothesis is advanced, which is
not reached by the most improved in
iuctive processes. A great service of
the book lies in its enunciation of new
and trustworthy methods for studying
the physiology of the brain in health and
disease, while 1t brings into the realm of
physical experiment veXed questions OF
psychology heretofore given over to met
sphysiCal methods exclusively.
THE HYPNOTIC SLEEP
IS described as different form of natu-
-sl sleep, and all the causes which bring (
IN fatigue are capable of bringing on I
lypnotism on suitable subjects. Two
Of the leading hypnotic states are lethar-
~ and catalepsY, the former being anala- {
gous to deep sleep, and the latter to {
light slumber. In lethargy the respirato- {
y movements are slow and deep; n;cat- i
alepsy, slight, shallow, very slow, and ]
by long interval. In lethargy, 6
he application OF magnet over the re- 8
zion OF the stomach causes profound mod I
ications in the breathing and circulation, {
While there is go such effect in catalepsy.
This shows the connection of hypnotism
With magnetism, and various other ex- c
1erlments with magnets have produced /
'ome wonderful results. Here il may be G
added that DR.. Geesmam, q Vienna |. S
scientist who has made speciality of S
hypnotic studies, has invented ahd sue @
,essfully applied an instrument called 8
consisting of arrangement 2
# magnets, for the purpose of ascertain t
ne whether any persons is 8 good hyp- il
otic subject. 4
Tie experiments demonstrate that n
ensation in the hypnotic states varies n
etween the two opposite poles of v
YpetS 5thesla and an9sthesia; in other Il